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(ModeL) J. H. RING & J. A. BRADSHAW. A MACHINE FOR MAKING METALLIC CARTRIDGE SHELLS.

No. 286,151. Patented Oct. 2, 1883.

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Witnesses Inventor. I fl b PATENT FFECE.

JOHN H. RING AND JOHN A. BRADSHA\V, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, OF PART INTEREST TO CHARLES CALLAHAN, JOHN H. MORRISON, AND JAS. H. PINDOR,

ALL OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR MAKING METALLIC CARTREDGE SHELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 286,151, dated October 2, 1883.

Application filed July 19,1880. (ModeL) I all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOHN H. RING and JOHN A. BniinsnAw, both of Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes and Machines for Making Metallic Cartridge-Shells, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to a machine which, by a continuous and automatic operation, forms from sheet metal cartridge-shells, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an oblique view of our machine with part of the frame broken away to show the operative parts, the first punch and die-disk being at the right and the last punch and die-disk being at the left of the figure. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the last die-disk and through the heading-lever, showing also the burr and the heading-punch. Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively top and side views of the stripper detached, and Fig. 5 represents the first punch and die-disk, the disk in section.

A is-the frame of the machine.

B is a support for the guides of the punches and for the upper ends of the die-shafts, and may be considered a part of the frame.

C is the main shaft, caused to revolve by any convenientmeans, and which by suitable bevelgear gives to the shaft N a uniform motion.

Centrally secured to the shaft is the wheel N having a portion of its periphery removed,

, and over the break thus made is a radial arm,

N, attached to said shaft N, from the under side of which arm rigidly depends a pin, N, a little outside of the circle of said wheel N A shaft, M, parallel to the shaft N, has secured to it the wheel M, and this wheel M has at equal intervals radial slots Wide enough to allow the pin N to enter them, and has between these slots hollows which fit the circular periphery of the wheel N Therefore the revolution of the'shaft N causes the pin N to enter one of the slots of the wheel M, turning said wheel M until the circular part of the wheel N enters one of the hollows cut in the circumference of saidwheel M, and thereby said arm, descend and rise once during "rest of the disks L; and the dies are ranged in the disks and the edges of the disks stops the latter wheel until said pin enters another slot in said wheel, so that to give a complete revolution to the shaft M there must be as many revolutions of the shaft Nas there motion to all the diedisks L, secured to said shafts 0, respectively. By a crank, D, on the main shaft C, and a rod, D", connecting said crank and the free end of the lever D, (the other end of said lever being pivoted in brackets F F on the frame A, and E E E denoting-attached parts of saidleveiy) said lever is caused .to vibrate in a vertical plane.

Secured to the part E of the lever or arm D are a series (equal in number to the number of die-disks L) of vertical punches, H, running in guides J, secured to the frame B by brackets. Said die-disks are each provided with a number of dies (placed at equal interin completing a revo- The crank D is so set on the shaft C that the arm I) and the punches H, attached to every so arso overlap each other from right to left that 1 when the disks are at rest each of the punches H (except the first) passes through one disk into another and rises again, the first punch H entering the first disk only. All the dies in the same disk L are of the same size and shape; but the diameter of the dies in the successive disks and the diameter of the punches decrease from right to left of the machine.

In order to prevent the shells from sticking to the punches H, and so being drawn up out of the dies with said punches, a stripper, T, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, may be used between the successive die-disks L, so that when the shell is below the stripper T the jaws of said stripper will close on the punch H above the shell, the stripper consisting of a pair of j aws which vals) equal to the number of motions made by said disks, respectively, lution.

are closed by their own elasticity, (their ends being'joined, as shown in Fig. 3,) or by suitable springs, each jaw of the stripper havlng on its inner face a depression from top to bottom, like the inside of half of a frustum of an inverted hollow cone, so that the shell will readily pass down between the jaws, but cannot return. The first punch H needs no stripper, as it does not descend through the die- .disk, its form being that of a cylinder having the flat side of a hemisphere placed upon its cylindrical end, the projecting part of the punch forming a depression in the strip of metal fed to it, and the circular part cutting out the metal around said depression, thus forming a slightly-dishing circle of sheet metal.

Attached to the part E of the lever D by a link, K, is the burr K, having a fluted central pin designed to enter the open end of the shell,

. while the burr trims said open end till the shell is of the proper length. The burr is kept in a vertical position by the guide K and is lifted by the lower end of the said link K, embracing the shank of the burr just below the enlarged head of the latter, and is forced down as the lever D falls, and the stock of the shell is cut away by the spring K, placed between the upper arm of said guide K? and the band-wheel K. The burr is revolved by a band, X, passing around said band-wheel K and another band-wheel, N, on the shaft N. The heading-punch G is attached to the part E of the lever D, and is directed by the stationary guide J, which is like the guides of the drawing-punches, and is supported as they are. All the dies in the last disk L are counterbored attheir lower ends, Fig. 2, the depth of the counterbore being just'sufficient to admit the rim of the cartridge-shell when the same is completed. The punch G fills the trimmed case from the top of the same to within the thickness of the central portion of the closed end of the shell f1 cm the bottom of the last disk. Now, as the punch G descends the inner end of the lever S, pivoted to the frame B, between its ends, is brought up against the bottom of the last disk L, (theouter end of said lever being carried down by a connecting- 1 rod, S, attached to the part E of said lever D,) and in rising heads the shell 011 said punch G by pressing the part of said shell which, projects below said disk into the counterbored part of the die in said disk, a shoulder on the punch preventing the shell from being lifted by the heading-lever S. The lever S has immediately under the burr K, a depression hemispherical in shape, to receive the closed end of the shell, which depression aids in holding the shell while being trimmed, and allows said shell to project below the disk L, for the subsequent operation of heading.

P P represent feed-rolls, the lower one of which, P, has attached to its shaft a ratchet, Q, to whichan intermittent motion is given by a pawl, Q, operated by the rising and falling of the lever D.

In the operation of this machine a strip of sheetcopper or other suitable metal or alloy is placed between the feed-rolls, and by them carried to the first punch H, which cuts from said strip asmall circular piece, and at the same time slightly hollows said piece. The arm D rises, carrying the punches H G and burr up and the lever S down. The disks L then revolve intermittently, carrying the piece of sheet metal one stage nearer the second punch of the series H at each revolution of the shaft N, until sooner or later, depending upon the number of dies in the first disk, said sheet metal is carried under the second punch H, the first punch meanwhile, at every descent of the lever D,

cutting out and cupping a new circle of sheet metal, and so filling the dies of the. first disk between the first two punches. When the second punch descends upon the sheet metal, said punch draws the cupped circleinto a short tube, and pushes said tube through the first disk into the second disk and into a smaller 'die, by which disk last named the short tube, now longer and of less diameter, is carried by degrees over a still smaller die in the third disk and under the third punch, which lastnamed punch descends, drawing the tube still smaller and pushing it through the second disk into said third disk, and so the operation is repeated until, at every descent of the lever D, every punch H is drawing the sheet metal and every punch H (except the first, the operation of which. hasbeen fully explained) is pushing a partly-formed shell through one die- ;disk into the die-disk next below and to the.

.left, until, as the successively drawn shells reach the last diedisk, they are carried by degrees under the burr K, and trimmed at their gopen ends, and carried from said burr under athe heading-punch and over the heading-lever gs, asabove set forth, the completed shell bej ing pushedthrough and out of the last die-disk ,by another punch, or by another shell coming from the last disk but one into the last disk,

5 so that at each descent of the lever D, after the machine has headed and discharged the first jgshell, a circle of sheet metal is cut from the strip supplied by the feed-rolls by the first punch H, and all the other punches H, the

; burr K, and the heading-punch G and lever S are performing their various functions, and at each revolution of the shaft M shells in various stages of manufacture are being carried forward from punch to punch of the series H, and from the last drawing-punch H to the burr K, and from the latter to the heading device and to their final discharge, a finished shell dropping at every descent of said lever D.

In making cartridges by the ordinary methods it is necessary to anneal the metal at every second or third drawing. We do not anneal the metal at all after putting it into the machine. The number of punches for drawing the metal should be about a dozen.

We claim as our invention 1. The combination, with the main shaft 0, having suitable gearing attached thereto, and the crank D, secured on the end of the shaft 0, of the vertical shaft N, arranged below and geared with the main shaft, and provided with gear or pulley N and crank N, lever D, arranged above the main shaft, and adapted to carry and operate the punches, connectinglink D, and means for connecting lever D and shaft N to the shell-forming mechanism, substantially as set forth.

2. In a' cartridge-1nachine, a stripper, T, composed of two flexible or spring arms, united together at one end, and curved at their opposite ends to fit around the punch, and fixed in position to engage the said punch, as and for the purposes set forth.

S. The combination, with the series of disk shafts 0, provided with gears O", and having the disks L fixed to their-upper ends, the main shaft (3, and punches H, of the gear M", wheel M, having radial slots, mutilated gear -N-, crank N, shaft N, pitman D", lever-arm D, and frame or head E, having the punches H made fast thereto, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. p

4. The combination, with the burr K, pro vided with a band-pulley, K", upon its shaft, and the disk L, rotating intermittingly, and

arranged below the burr K, of the vertical shaft 0, fixed to the under side of the disk L, the shaft N, intermediatemechanism connecting the shaft N with the shaft 0, whereby the latter is made to rotate intermittingly, the band X, pulley N on shaft N, and the necessary driving mechanism, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with the disk L, the lever D, and the driving mechanism, of the heading-punch G, the burr K, heading-lever S, and means for connecting the burr to the driving mechanism, substantially as set forth.

6'. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the disk L, rotating intermittingly, the burr K, provided with the pulley K, and having a vertical. movement in its bearings, the spring K, lever D, link K and the necessary operating mechanism, substantially as set forth.

' JOHN H. RING.

JOHN A. BRADSHAW. XVitncsses:

ALBERT M. Moons, JAMES H. Pmnon. 

